Among the successful
business men of fled Deer is E. Al. Smith, president of the E. M. Smith
Lumber Company, Limited. He was born in Fremont, Nebraska, on the 27th
of November, 1889, a son of John Maxwell and Jessie (Barrett) Smith, the
former a native of Aberdeen, Scotland, and the latter of Wheatland,
Iowa. Their marriage was celebrated in Iowa, where they have made their
home for years, their home now being in Waterloo, where Mr. Smith has a
successful tailoring establishment. He is conceded to be one of the
representative business men of that community and takes an active
interest in civic affairs. He follows an independent course in politics,
giving his support to the man he thinks best fitted for the office
without regard to party principles. His religious faith is that of the
Presbyterian church, while his wife is a consistent communicant of the
Catholic church. To their union three children have been born, E. M.
being the second in order of birth. Fraternally John Al. Smith is
identified with the Modern Woodmen of America.
In the acquirement of his
education E. M. Smith attended the public schools of Waterloo and was
graduated from the high school there, with the class of 1908. The
following two years he spent in the University of Iowa, at the
termination of which time he took a course in the Water- loo Business
College. His first position in the business world was with an asphalt
paving firm in Waterloo. He was active in that connection until 1911,
when he came to Regina, where he became associated with the Monarch
Lumber Company. Subsequently he engaged in business on his own account
at Broderick and Glenside, Saskatchewan. Some three years later he came
to Red Deer, arriving on the 15th of October, 1919, and he purchased the
lumber business of Gushing Brothers, incorporating it under the name of
the Smith Lumber Company, Limited. He is president and general manager
of the concern, which handles all kinds of lumber, builders' supplies
and fuel. Diligence, practical methods and persistent energy have been
dominant factors in his success, which has come to him not by chance but
as the result of proven efficiency.
On the 26th of June,
1916, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Smith and Miss Ruth Elizabeth
Guile, a native of Oakland, Nebraska, and a graduate of Bryn Mawr. To
Mr. and Mrs. Smith one child has been born, Constance, who is ten months
old. Mrs. Smith is an active member of the Presbyterian church, while
Mr. Smith is a consistent communicant of the Catholic church.
Mr. Smith takes an active
interest in community affairs and he is now a member of the city
council, chairman of the hospital board and a director in the
Agricultural Society. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of
Columbus. Mr. Smith is meeting with continued success in his
undertakings and his business career is being pursued with the
unrelenting persistence characteristic of the energetic man of
determined purpose. |